German 'Top Model' show criticized for promoting eating disorders

The German version of the reality TV show "America's Next Top Model" is being criticized for promoting eating disorders.

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Germany's top newspaper, Bild, cautioned the show could drive young women to become anorexic, Deutsche Welle reported Wednesday.

Under a headline reading, "Skinny Madness," Bild interviewed a 19-year-old anorexic who said the show, hosted by supermodel and "Project Runway" host Heidi Klum, "destroys young girls and drives them to an obsession with being thin."

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The Berlin daily Der Tagesspiegel said Klum's show has launched a debate about whether anorexia has become a "status symbol."

It noted one contestant -- 5-foot-4 and 114 pounds -- was voted off by the show's panel for being too fat.

"That is clearly in the range of anorexia," the director of an eating disorder clinic told the newspaper.